Day 47: Happy 50th Birthday, Nobile Di Montepulciano!
The weather, while still chilly, was infinitely less rainy than the day before which made wine touring and exploring the city way more comfortable and way less damp. Out of coincidence, Montepulciano was holding 50th birthday celebrations for their regional wine – Nobile Di Montepulciano (it's been around for ages but just got its DOCG certification 50 years ago). To celebrate its birthday, there were wine tastings, free tours and whatnot happening around town. We had no idea about this at all until we turned up to our pre-booked reservation at sustainable winery, Salcheto.
After turning up to the winery, we were told that our group was going to be taken around by the winery's owner, which apparently was a big deal. They put so much thought in the tour and after the tasting, they gave us a bottle of wine to take home and we didn't have to pay for the tour. Happy birthday indeed!
Looking back toward Montepulciano from Salcheto.
Doing what so many people before me have done – made their husbands/partners/boyfriends photograph them in this thing.
This winery is so cool – it's fully sustainable and uses natural lighting from solar tubes.
While we were tasting the first wine, we could hear a piano. I thought it was through speakers but I looked down and there was a man down below playing.
I still don't know how to properly taste wine.
Weird photo.
We went to the cellar and the piano guy was there but this time with a singer. They got us to put face masks over our eyes and taste the second wine while listening to the band sing "Time After Time" and "Love Is A Losing Game". The winery owner wanted us to experience the wine without sight and with music.
Outside, there is a green wall to naturally insulate the building.
Goose! Guy wasn't scared of us at all.
A simple pasta lunch we made at home – tagliatelle, tomato, basil and pepper.
After lunch we explored the town. Just down the road from our B&B was De Ricci which housed their barrels in this spooky underground cellar below the streets of the town. It was cool but super creepy. I'd hate to imagine getting stuck down there at night. Or during the day. Any time really.
You can dine in a cellar!
We stumbled upon this enoteca which (besides playing Foo Fighters on repeat) had a tonne of wines you could try. You just collected a card from the staff, which was loaded with €50 and you wandered around the cellars selecting the wines you wanted. Adam was in heaven. I was a bit wined out by this point.
Views are everywhere in this town.
Little streets.
Even littler walkways. Mind your head.
We booked in dinner at our B&B's restaurant – Osteria Del Borgo. It was truffle season so we took full advantage of this by ordering two courses of things topped with truffle.
The first was a vegetable "pie". The thing about pies in other countries is that you never know what you're going to get. One country's definition of pie can greatly vary from your own, so I've had some interesting pies in my time. This vegetable pie was essentially mashed potato with some bread, topped with a cream sauce and a tonne of truffle. Not what I expected, but as an advocate for mashed potato, this was delicious.
One of the best pastas of the trip – home made tagliatelle with a crap tonne of truffles. Heaven.
